Business briefs

Union members drop
WASHINGTON — Union membership plummeted last year to the lowest level since the 1930s as cash-strapped state and local governments shed workers and unions had difficulty organizing new members in the private sector despite signs of an improving economy.

Government figures released Wednesday showed union membership declined from 11.8 percent to 11.3 percent of the workforce, another blow to a labor movement already stretched thin by battles in Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan and other states to curb bargaining rights and weaken union clout.

Overall membership fell by about 400,000 workers to 14.4 million, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. More than half the loss, about 234,000, came from government workers, including teachers, firefighters and public administrators.

3 nabbed for virus
NEW YORK — A computer virus that spread to more than a million computers worldwide, including some at NASA, and produced at least $50 million in illegal profits or losses to victims should be a “wake-up call” for banks and consumers unaware of the threat posed by Internet criminals, a prosecutor said Wednesday.

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara and George Venizelos, head of the New York FBI office, warned of the growing threat to financial and international security as they announced that a 2-1/2-year probe had resulted in three arrests, two of them overseas, and the seizure of vast amounts of computer-related evidence that will take months or years to fully analyze.

IMF sees better 2013
WASHINGTON — The International Monetary Fund is projecting a modest rise in global economic growth for 2013, but is also warning that problems in the eurozone and the United States could derail momentum.

The report Wednesday, an update of the fund's World Economic Outlook, largely tracked the initial estimate from October, revising global growth down slightly by one-tenth of a percentage point, to 3.5 percent. The world economy grew 3.2 percent in 2012, according to IMF estimates.

Try 'Fish McBites'
NEW YORK — McDonald's used the Dollar Menu to help lift its profit in the latest quarter. Now the world's biggest hamburger chain is turning to a pipeline of new menu items to boost slumping sales, starting with “Fish McBites.”

The Oak Brook, Ill.-based company is betting that it will be able to beat back intensifying competition and economic pressures with the lineup, which executives said includes new burgers, chicken entrees and breakfast offerings that are performing well in test markets.

US Airways profit upUS Airways' net income doubled in the fourth quarter and executives said the strong demand the airline is seeing is often a precursor to higher fares.

Fuller planes made the difference in the last three months as revenue set a record.

Airlines successfully raised fares five times last year but have struggled to do so lately. Two attempts led by United this month failed after other airlines didn't match the increases. For US Airways one measure of fares — called yield — declined very slightly in the fourth quarter.

Netflix's stock soars
SAN FRANCISCO — Netflix's Internet video service warded off stiffer competition to add 2 million U.S. subscribers during the final three months of the year, producing an unexpected profit for the company.

The fourth-quarter performance announced Wednesday validates investors' recent confidence in Netflix Inc. Its volatile stock had surged by more than 30 percent since early December. The stock soared another $34.49, or 33 percent, to $137.75 in after-hours trading after the numbers came out. If the shares trade similarly in Thursday's session, it will propel Netflix's stock to a new 52-week high.

The surge in new customers gave Netflix 27.1 million U.S. subscribers who stream movies and TV shows to Internet-connected devices.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood stood by his Jan. 11 assertion that the 787, Boeing's newest and most technologically advanced airliner, was safe. At that time LaHood and the head of the Federal Aviation Administration, Michael Huerta, declared the plane fit to fly despite a battery fire in one plane.

Five days later, following another battery mishap that led to the emergency landing of a 787 in Japan, LaHood and Huerta ordered United, the lone U.S. carrier with 787s, to ground the planes. Authorities in Europe and elsewhere — including Chile, Poland, Ethiopia, Qatar and India — swiftly followed suit. Two Japanese airlines voluntarily grounded their planes before the FAA's order.